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In terms of high school prospects the Gophers have set their targets as Grant Sherfield as a ball handler, Isaiah Ihnen as a four man, and Sam Freeman as the potential five. Sherfield visited Minnesota and the Gophers are considered a leader for Sherfield. Grant is taking an official visit to Wichita State this week. The question will then be, will Sherfield make a decision soon after? Ihnen is a 6-foot-9 four man visiting the Gopher campus the second half of April. The Gophers are one of three schools Isaiah - who is in Germany - will be taking official visits to. And Sam Freeman is a center from Texas who is expected to visit this April. Coach Richard Pitino is said to soon be going to visit him as well. With these being the key targets at the moment, expect the Gophers to have patience to see these recruits through. Assistant Kyle Lindsted is the lead on each of these prospects.

Then of course there are transfers. Four different types: 1) mid-year, 2) transfer and sit, 3) graduate transfer, and 4) transfer and get a waiver. At the moment the waivers are a guessing game so we will just look at the other three types of transfers.

Mid-Year: Minnesota did not have scholarships to give for a mid-year transfer and in my recollection they have not added a mid-year transfer in a long time. But to give you an example of the players that have mid-year transferred here is my top five in that category:
1.Quadre Green - former 5-star recruit headed to Washington from Kentucky
2.Carte'Are Gordon - 6'9 power forward who was a top 75 recruit, left Saint Louis for Dayton
3.Jordan Usher - double figure capable scorer who will play for Georgia Tech next year (from USC)
4.Micah Potter - 6-foot-9 junior that was giving Ohio State 4/2 before leaving for Wisconsin
5.Chase Johnson - former 4-star recruit that signed at Florida, rarely played as a frosh and went to Dayton

Transfer to Sit (and maybe have a waiver): At the moment I'm still catching up on the avalanche of transfers. So my list only includes a few of the recent names. Overall the best five transfers that would sit a year are likely:
1.West Virginia 6-foot-8 sophomore Wesley Harris who started 17 games this year averaging eight points a contest
2.Brown 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Desmond Cambridge, an underclassmen that has averaged 16/17 a game in the IVY league
3.UNLV 6-foot-9 freshman forward Joel Ntambwe who averaged 12 points and five boards a game in his first year of college hoops
4.Idaho 6-foot-3 freshman guard Cameron Tyson, a 43.5 percent three point shooter that scored 13.5 points per contest
5.TCU 6-foot-2 point guard Jaylen Fisher. Fisher has scored 12 points a game when healthy but has lost many games to injury. Likely to get a medical

Transfer to Sit (and make sense for Minnesota): The Gophers need depth up front and they need ball handlers. A couple of the names above makes sense for this group as well.
1.UNLV 6-foot-9 freshman forward Joel Ntambwe is not only a talented frontcourt prospect but he committed to UNLV when current Minnesota assistant Rob Jeter was on staff in the winter of 2018. It's possible that there is no relationship at all between Jeter and Ntambwe or maybe they know each other well. Either way he is a talented frontcourt player to keep an eye on. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is also a freshman that started there (4pt/4rb per) but he signed with UNLV after Jeter left.
2.Jaylen Fisher is from Memphis much like Eric Curry. It's possible there is a hometown connection between the two that could help (it worked with Peyton Willis).
3.It's already been reported that Minnesota has made contact with 6-foot-7 athletic scorer and shot blocker Anthony Duruji from Louisiana Tech. Duruji made 47 percent of his shots this year averaging 12 points and six boards. 4.Xavier Bishop of UMKC. Bishop is very small and that is why some schools are turned off but he has heard from UCF and Nevada among many other programs. Scored 15.3 points per game last year with four assists a game. Pitino did take Mathieu at similar size (5-foot-8) but you have to wonder if he would do that again.
5.UTEP 5-foot-10 sophomore Evan Gilyard scored 13.6 points per game and shot 36 percent at the arc this year, 38 percent overall. Another ball handler that Minnesota may be interested in and he is a couple inches bigger than Bishop.

Graduate Transfers: The graduate transfers may make the most sense for the Gophers. Not only do they get a good veteran player for a year but they also add that scholarship to the 2020 class. Minnesota will want more than two scholarship for the 2020 group considering all the local talent and that guards like Jamal Mashburn Jr and Jahari Long have already visited.

Here are my top dozen grad transfers (this list will be missing a few names, there are about 25 new transfers popping up every single day.
1.James Bolden of West Virginia (6-foot-0 guard)
2.Derrik Smits of Valpo (7-foot-1 center)
3.Nate Sestina of Bucknell (6-foot-9 power forward)
4.Pat Andree of Lehigh (6-foot-8 power forward)
5.KJ Feagin of Santa Clara (6-foot-1 point guard) headed to San Diego State
6.Rayjon Tucker Jr of Little Rock (6-foot-5 shooting guard)
7.Luwane Pipkins of UMass (5-foot-11 point guard) headed to Providence
8.Justin Pierce of William & Mary (6-foot-7 small forward)
9.Donnell Gresham of Northeastern (6-foot-2 point guard)
10.Haanif Cheatham of Florida Gulf Coast (6-foot-5 shooting guard)
11.Tyrone Taylor II of UNCW (6-foot-3 shooting guard)
12.Daniel Utomi of Akron (6-foot-6 small forward)

Graduate Transfers for Minnesota: So what makes sense for Minnesota? Again, ball handlers and size. And when you add in the local angle...
1.Donnell Gresham of Northeastern. Gresham is a guard that teammates love to compete with because of his character and aggressive nature, he's an improved three point shooter making (42/38 percent at the arc the last two years taking about five a game). Strong rebounder (5 a contest) at 6-foot-2 who scored almost ten points a game and dished out 3.1 assists. From St. Paul, played at Cretin-Derham Hall.2.Derrik Smits of Valpo. Visited Grand Canyon yesterday and has heard from schools like Arizona, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, and many others (no mention of Minnesota but that doesn't mean Minnesota hasn't contacted). Smits is 7-foot-1 and put up 12 points and six rebounds a game this year shooting 60 percent from the field. Minnesota looked at Smits when he was in high school.3.Nate Sestina of Bucknell. Gophers need size and Sestina put up 16 points and 8.5 boards a game last year shooting 38 percent at the arc. Nate is 6-foot-9 and has so far lined up a visit with Kentucky.
4.Matt Hauser of Santa Clara. Hauser missed this season because of a foot injury but will grad transfer and play next year. A double figure scoring lead guard that played 30 plus minutes a game as a sophomore and junior.
5.James Bolden of West Virginia. Bolden played his last game for Bob Huggins on January 26th. He's a combo guard that scored 12 points a game shooting 40 percent from the field. Many schools are interested.
6.Pat Andree of Lehigh. Pat is a 6-foot-8 power forward who shot 42 percent from the arc and scored 13 points a game with 6.2 boards this year.

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So he basically just looked at the transfer list, threw some names against the wall without actually looking into their fit here, just threw their stats on a page, no inclination if we're even interested or vice versa, etc.

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I watched Derrik Smits in person last month when Valpo played Drake. He's pretty smooth, with a reasonable jumper and good timing. The comparison to Matz Stockman is apt. I looked up his stats just now and was surprised that he only played about 22 minutes a game despite leading the team in scoring and rebounding.

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So he basically just looked at the transfer list, threw some names against the wall without actually looking into their fit here, just threw their stats on a page, no inclination if we're even interested or vice versa, etc.

With all due respect, he's not going to post inside information in an article that can be read by everyone.

The article summarizes very well what we already know. I am most interested if Sherfield will take visits after his Wichita St visit. If not, then it really has to be between Minnesota and Wichita. Hopefully his family relationship with Lindsted will pay off.

No way on Lamont.I am a MinnesotaMountaineer and played with Huggins at WVU.As of now I don't think Lamont is transferring, have you heard different?Beetle Bolden is a different story, would love him as a Gopher but is injury prone.

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No way on Lamont.I am a MinnesotaMountaineer and played with Huggins at WVU.As of now I don't think Lamont is transferring, have you heard different?Beetle Bolden is a different story, would love him as a Gopher but is injury prone.

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Huh? He made 55 three's two years ago at 33.7% and 64 three's at 33% this year all at the power 5 level. Who do you have in mind that is better than that and realistic? Curry? Omersa? Not a great rebounder but still, he'd be a perfect fit at PF although I'm sure he will have plenty of suitors and will be tough to get.

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Huh? He made 55 three's two years ago at 33.7% and 64 three's at 33% this year all at the power 5 level. Who do you have in mind that is better than that and realistic? Curry? Omersa? Not a great rebounder but still, he'd be a perfect fit at PF although I'm sure he will have plenty of suitors and will be tough to get.

Yep. If we want a grad transfer PF, we will likely have to chose between a stretch 4 that can shoot the 3 but is a weaker rebounder or a bruiser who can rebound but won't stretch the floor. West's numbers are similar to what Joey King put up senior year.

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Ryan missed a number of transfers in his article (Kira Lewis for example is arguably the number 1 transfer target in college basketball right now) and his rankings of the guys he did list are also strange. He usually does a great job, but his wasn't one of his stronger researched pieces.

I don't get the Donnell Gresham thing at all. Just going by the stats, Gresham is an undersized 2 guard that averaged 9.7 points a game on just 41% shooting as a redshirt junior at the mid to low major level. If he wasn't from Minnesota, would his name even come up? I watched his highlights from his redshirt sophomore season and what I saw was an average athlete for that level of competition with a nice perimeter jumper that might have a bit too slow of a release for a 6'1 guard playing high major basketball.

Freeman's recruiting has been below the radar. On the plus side, he either visited (or was scheduled to visit) Virginia Tech awhile back, so the Gophers aren't the only ones showing interest. On the negative side, he's high school teammates with a top 100 (on 247) kid committed to Oklahoma State in Avery Anderson. I believe their high school, Northwest, is also one that frequently puts out D-1 kids. What I am saying is, a lot of schools have had the opportunity to see Sammie and he really hasn't generated a ton of offers. He could be a late bloomer or he could be the typical Spring type recruit that gets over-recruited due to supply/demand.

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Ryan missed a number of transfers in his article (Kira Lewis for example is arguably the number 1 transfer target in college basketball right now) and his rankings of the guys he did list are also strange. He usually does a great job, but his wasn't one of his stronger researched pieces.

I don't get the Donnell Gresham thing at all. Just going by the stats, Gresham is an undersized 2 guard that averaged 9.7 points a game on just 41% shooting as a redshirt junior at the mid to low major level. If he wasn't from Minnesota, would his name even come up? I watched his highlights from his redshirt sophomore season and what I saw was an average athlete for that level of competition with a nice perimeter jumper that might have a bit too slow of a release for a 6'1 guard playing high major basketball.

Objectively, he shouldn't be a priority. It just depends on if any more scholarships open up and/or how much trouble we're having getting commitments. If no one transfers out and we get Sherfield, then there is no reason to take Gresham. He'd probably be a lot like Stull, except a better defender.

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I don't get the Donnell Gresham thing at all. Just going by the stats, Gresham is an undersized 2 guard that averaged 9.7 points a game on just 41% shooting as a redshirt junior at the mid to low major level. If he wasn't from Minnesota, would his name even come up? I watched his highlights from his redshirt sophomore season and what I saw was an average athlete for that level of competition with a nice perimeter jumper that might have a bit too slow of a release for a 6'1 guard playing high major basketball.

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Ryan missed a number of transfers in his article (Kira Lewis for example is arguably the number 1 transfer target in college basketball right now) and his rankings of the guys he did list are also strange. He usually does a great job, but his wasn't one of his stronger researched pieces.

I don't get the Donnell Gresham thing at all. Just going by the stats, Gresham is an undersized 2 guard that averaged 9.7 points a game on just 41% shooting as a redshirt junior at the mid to low major level. If he wasn't from Minnesota, would his name even come up? I watched his highlights from his redshirt sophomore season and what I saw was an average athlete for that level of competition with a nice perimeter jumper that might have a bit too slow of a release for a 6'1 guard playing high major basketball.

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Freeman's recruiting has been below the radar. On the plus side, he either visited (or was scheduled to visit) Virginia Tech awhile back, so the Gophers aren't the only ones showing interest. On the negative side, he's high school teammates with a top 100 (on 247) kid committed to Oklahoma State in Avery Anderson. I believe their high school, Northwest, is also one that frequently puts out D-1 kids. What I am saying is, a lot of schools have had the opportunity to see Sammie and he really hasn't generated a ton of offers. He could be a late bloomer or he could be the typical Spring type recruit that gets over-recruited due to supply/demand.

Thanks for the perspective. I just did a little googling and this article from last summer says "He has offers from TCU, Houston, UTA, and North Texas. The following schools are looking at him: Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Stephen F. Austin, and Old Dominion." It's just weird that none of it is showing up on Rivals/247.

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Yes, it's interesting that we've had one very good grad transfer guard and one pretty weak grad transfer guard and they both came from the same school. I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn't expect lightning to strike twice in the same location.

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Yes, it's interesting that we've had one very good grad transfer guard and one pretty weak grad transfer guard and they both came from the same school. I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn't expect lightning to strike twice in the same location.

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It would be interesting to see a study of grad transfers and their effectiveness for that one year, based on what the needs of the team were. Brock did not meet expectations as a shooter, but I still insist there is a story behind it that we don't know. As out of shape as he was when he arrived at the end of the summer, he likely did little or nothing to stay in shape, which makes no sense to me playing at that level of sports. Something went wrong. As I recall, almost everyone on this board wanted him last spring, and there was message board rebellion that Pitino was going too slow to get him to commit.

Brock will always have a special place in my memory for being a key component in the win at Kohl though. That was a good night and seeing those two threes spear the Badgers rally was worth it.

I don't watch as much basketball as many on this board do, but the few known grad transfers I've seen this year have not been that great. Taylor from Northwestern was the guy everyone wanted but he shot terribly this year. Purdue had a guy from Dartmouth who was decent in the pre-season, but barely got off the bench in the conference. The guy from South Dakota that went to Texas Tech sees a lot of floor time and appears to have been a high quality addition for them. I just wonder how often they really pan out. As far as I can see, we're one for three. Hit on Akeem and missed on Stull and on Malik Smith in Pitino's first year. As near as I can tell, grad transfers are mostly about filling out benches and plugging gaping holes like we have at power forward next season.

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It would be interesting to see a study of grad transfers and their effectiveness for that one year, based on what the needs of the team were. Brock did not meet expectations as a shooter, but I still insist there is a story behind it that we don't know. As out of shape as he was when he arrived at the end of the summer, he likely did little or nothing to stay in shape, which makes no sense to me playing at that level of sports. Something went wrong. As I recall, almost everyone on this board wanted him last spring, and there was message board rebellion that Pitino was going too slow to get him to commit.

Brock will always have a special place in my memory for being a key component in the win at Kohl though. That was a good night and seeing those two threes spear the Badgers rally was worth it.

I don't watch as much basketball as many on this board do, but the few known grad transfers I've seen this year have not been that great. Taylor from Northwestern was the guy everyone wanted but he shot terribly this year. Purdue had a guy from Dartmouth who was decent in the pre-season, but barely got off the bench in the conference. The guy from South Dakota that went to Texas Tech sees a lot of floor time and appears to have been a high quality addition for them. I just wonder how often they really pan out. As far as I can see, we're one for three. Hit on Akeem and missed on Stull and on Malik Smith in Pitino's first year. As near as I can tell, grad transfers are mostly about filling out benches and plugging gaping holes like we have at power forward next season.

Yeah, I don't think Texas Tech would still be playing if not for Mooney, who played for USD (South Dakota) last year. He is a solid all-around player that has been great for them all season. Last night alone, he played good defense on Simpson and made some big shots.

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It would be interesting to see a study of grad transfers and their effectiveness for that one year, based on what the needs of the team were. Brock did not meet expectations as a shooter, but I still insist there is a story behind it that we don't know. As out of shape as he was when he arrived at the end of the summer, he likely did little or nothing to stay in shape, which makes no sense to me playing at that level of sports. Something went wrong. As I recall, almost everyone on this board wanted him last spring, and there was message board rebellion that Pitino was going too slow to get him to commit.

Brock will always have a special place in my memory for being a key component in the win at Kohl though. That was a good night and seeing those two threes spear the Badgers rally was worth it.

I don't watch as much basketball as many on this board do, but the few known grad transfers I've seen this year have not been that great. Taylor from Northwestern was the guy everyone wanted but he shot terribly this year. Purdue had a guy from Dartmouth who was decent in the pre-season, but barely got off the bench in the conference. The guy from South Dakota that went to Texas Tech sees a lot of floor time and appears to have been a high quality addition for them. I just wonder how often they really pan out. As far as I can see, we're one for three. Hit on Akeem and missed on Stull and on Malik Smith in Pitino's first year. As near as I can tell, grad transfers are mostly about filling out benches and plugging gaping holes like we have at power forward next season.